Welcome to the Fair!

he 1933 World's Fair reflected a burst of optimism in the depths of a depression felt around the globe. Celebrating a Century of Progress, the Fair marked scientific triumphs including the telegraph, telephone, automobile, and airplane. For Chicago, the Fair proved -- as did the 1893 Columbian Exposition -- that the city had truly risen from the ashes of the 1871 Great Fire. Unlike the "White City" of that 19th century Chicago exposition, the 1933 Fair was awash in color, a splashy pallet of hues and art deco design. So popular was the Century of Progress that the Fair was opened the next year and closed with a small profit, a rarity for these sorts of ventures. As part of its legacy, the Fair inspired New York to mount its own World's Fair in 1939-40.

The postcard pages, many of which are from the Judith M. Loredo collection, offer transcriptions of text from these primary artifacts from the Fair. In the future, I hope to add advertisements related to the Fair to this collection.

To navigate this site, simply select one of the options from the Main Menu window located at the upper left of your screen. When you select an option (eg., postcards) a list of examples will appear in the Selections window. Click a selection and the image and accompanying text will appear in the main window. To return to this front page, select the "I Will Maiden" button at the lower left of your screen. If you're curious, my name is Dr. Andrew Wood -- I'm an assistant professor of communication studies at San Jose State University. To learn more about other pages I maintain, select the Electro-Silicon icon at the farthest lower left of your screen.

Enjoy the fair! [ANDY-SPACE]